hysterical psychosis
an old name for a condition in which psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre and sometimes violent behavior) appear suddenly in a person with histrionic personality disorder, usually in response to a stressful precipitating life event. Symptoms are of short duration, lasting 2 weeks or less, and there is a full return to the previous level of functioning. Currently, however, hysterical psychosis is not widely considered a distinct clinical entity. Also called dissociative psychosis.